Ginny held her breath. They just kept coming. Wave after wave of nameless Death Eaters appeared in droves like fluttering bats. In a twisted fashion their decent upon the students was almost graceful, despite it being one of malice and evil intent.
Ginny spared herself a glimpse; they were surrounded. Voldemort's followers had them cornered and covered on every side, their masks gleaming in the misty light radiating from the spun-glass sphere clutched in Harry's hand. Her heart was pounding as she desperately tried to think of a plan. Merlin, if this was what Harry's life felt like with all the encounters of danger he's had, she had no idea how he coped, how he simply didn't break down.
No. Ginny knew that the only way to overpower the Death Eaters, to possibly have a chance to get out alive, would be by pure wits, and wits alone. They were far outnumbered in numbers, magic and experience—it would be suicide for them to try to duel or defeat the Death Eaters the Wizarding way. If they intended to survive, they needed to form a clever plan. They needed to think.
Ginny scanned the dark spaces between the shelves of predicting prophecies. There had to be a way out. Didn't every horrible situation always have one, even if it took the person in danger some time to realize it? She concluded that if there wasn't a direct path of escape, then she would have to make one.
Ginny couldn't conceal a gasp as Lucious Malfoy stepped into the circle of light created by their wands. Ron thoughtfully squeezed her hand as Malfoy inspected them coolly one by one, pausing with an air of effect when his eyes landed upon Ginny. Harry shifted slightly so that he blocked her from Malfoy's piercing stare.
"Potter," Lucious Malfoy said, and thus commenced his fruitless speech of negotiating for the prophecy. Harry wasn't stupid, Ginny knew this. A bit thick sometimes, but not stupid. They both saw right through Malfoy's petty lies. His intention was to sugar-speak his way into getting hold of the prophecy and then dispose of the students.
Harry challenged Malfoy bravely (and foolishly)—but all attempts at pleasantries between the two men fell away when Bellatrix Lestrange stepped forward. The young redhead heard shuffling of feet as the others closed in and formed a protective circle; shielding her from Bellatrix Lestrange as the cruel suggestion of torture left her lips.
Ginny shivered at this thought and she couldn't seem to stop. She almost knocked into Neville who was frozen in absolute fear. Her eyes widened. Knocked into Neville... Ginny's mind was whirling so fast—a mental idea forming in her mind—that she did not see or hear the spell Bellatrix emitted from her wand. She only saw the aftermath; the red light hitting a shelf a foot to the left of Ginny and several of the glass orbs were sent shattering to the ground.
Two pearly-white figures as transparent and fluid as smoke, rose from the broken glass upon the floor and began to speak; their voices clashed with each other so that only bits and pieces of what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrix's shouts.
Harry began talking again, desperately trying to maintain a conversation. He was trying to buy them time, Ginny realized, in hopes that his friends might think of something.
Harry and Malfoy exchanged more words with Bellatrix interrupting every-so-often, the Death Eaters laughing maliciously at one point. Ginny glanced again at the damage Bellatrix had caused. The two figures that had burst from the shattered orbs had melted into thin air. Nothing remained of them but shards of glass upon the floor.
Ginny's heart fluttered. Her plan could work. It wasn't the most complicated for sure, but all it needed to be was affective. Her body became rigid as she began to put her plan into action, starting with Hermione, who was the closest to her right. Ginny leaned over ever-so-slightly and whispered into the older girl's ear: "On signal–smash shelves."
She prayed Hermione understood.
The other girl was still for a dreadful moment, then nodded once. Ginny gave her a pointed look and Hermione knew what Ginny meant.
Cautiously, Hermione raised a trembling hand and gently tapped Ron on the back. Bewildered, Ron slightly turned wand raised in a defensive manor, only to find Hermione with a finger to her lips in a silent 'shhhh.'
"Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" Harry was saying to Lucius Malfoy.
"On the signal, smash the shelves," she mouthed, and to Ginny's relief, her brother nodded before turning back around.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neville and Luna sharing the word.
Ginny waited for the perfect moment—when Luscious was gloating about Tom's masterful plans. "NOW!" she shouted and five different voices screamed, "Reducto!"
Five beams of light flew in five different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit their marks; the looming racks swayed as thousands of clear balls burst open, pearly-white figures unfurling into the air and floated there amid the crashing glass and splintered wood now raining down.
Someone shouted "RUN!" but Ginny needn't be told twice. She bolted past a very shocked Death Eater and flung her arms over her head, protecting herself from the spheres that were falling ever so fast, Luna and Ron at her sides. Shards embedded themselves into the flesh of her arms and hands and she let out a small whimper as she felt a particularly sharp piece of glass cut her cheek.
Behind her, Ginny heard Hermione shout "Stupefy!" as she turned a corner and ran straight for a door, the others following, four Death Eaters closely on their heels. Ron, with the longest and fastest legs, reached the door first and yanked it open and the three tumbled inside.
Ginny's chest heaved as she doubled over, clutching the stitch in her side. It took her a few moments to catch her breath and take in her surroundings. She was in a pitch black room that was littered with shiny hovering blobs.
"Planets!" Luna declared dreamily, unfazed, and Ginny realized she was right. The Ministry had created miniature replicas of all nine planets. She watched as Mars gently floated by; in its wake a cool breeze of fresh air trailed behind.
To Ginny's horror, Saturn drifted past Mulciber and illuminated his face; he grinned and they knew he could see them as clearly as they saw him. He yelled and alerted the others and all at once there were spells and jinxes and hexes flying through the air at the trio.
"CONFRINGO!" Luna ducked wildly, barely missing the blasting curse by an inch.
A Death Eater pointed his wand at Ginny and shouted, "FLIPENDO!"
"STUPEFY!" cried Ginny and they began to duel.
"ENNERVATE!"
"PROTEGO!"
"MUTATIO SKULLUS!"
"SALVIO HEXIA!"
"INCARCEROUS!"
"EXPILLARMUS! Accio Wand!"
To her delight, the man's wand flew out of his hand and straight into hers. "Impedimenta!" she exclaimed. "Petrificus Totalus!" Crabbe's father fell to the ground like a doll.
"Nice one!" Ron called from across the room. Ginny glanced up in time to see Ron disarm Bellatrix's husband and Luna stun Rabbastan. Ginny felt the rush of joy at this small victory for her brother, but then a curse was shot at Ron and before he had the chance to block the blue streak, it hit him straight in the chest.
Ginny yelled to her brother's crumbling heap, not noticing Rodolphus Lestrange till it was too late—he grabbed her ankle and tugged; sending her crashing to the ground with a snap, crack, and a scream. Luna pointed her wand at Lestrange's, his face illuminated by the soft aura of Pluto as it tumbled by, and shouted "Reductor!" Pluto blew up in his face.
Ginny shouted at Luna, "Get Ron!" who had sat up and begin to gibber at Mars.
"Your leg—"
"I think it's broken. He grabbed my ankle and it snapped," she panted, desperately trying to ignore the throbbing pain that ran up and down her leg. "We need to get out of here. Come on, Ron!" Ginny said harshly. Ron was giggling madly and threw Mars across the opposite wall.
She hoisted herself up, gritting her teeth so not to make a sound. Luna pranced over and somehow managed to drag Ron to where Ginny leaned against the wall.
"What curse did he use?" she mumbled to Luna, as not to disturb Ron'a attempt to strike up a conversation with the wall. "Reckon Pomfrey can fix him once we're back at Hogwarts... right?" Ginny shot a worried look at her brother who was now tickling a brick.
"Oh, yes. And if she can't, surely Professor Dumbledore is able to fix him right!" Luna's cool voice soothed Ginny's fears; she briskly nodded and began to search for a way to escape from the room.
"There," she spotted a small door across the room and pointed it out to Luna. They would barely be able to squeeze through but it was their only chance of escape.
"Is it safe?"
"Any Place will be safer than here with this lot, stunned or not!" Ginny declared, gesturing to the Death Eaters.
"That one's waking up," Luna pointed at Mulciber. "We best be off."
Luna shot another stunning spell at him and proceeded to partially carry, partially drag Ron over to the door, Ginny at their heels. Luna pushed and the three of them sprang into a dark hallway, nearly toppling over Harry, a bloody Neville, and an unconscious Hermione in the process.
"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, taking in Ron's happy attitude, Ginny's injury and Luna's... well, Luna's normal disposition. "Ginny! Are you all—?"
"Harry," said Ron, giggling weakly despite their dire situation.
Ginny leaned against the wall, balancing her weight on her good foot while holding her other in the air. Just limping across a room her exerted and had in pain.
"You're all messed up, Harry. You're blurry and there're five of you." Ron snorted.
"Ginny?" Harry said fearfully, shooting a look between the two siblings before turning his attention to the youngest Weasley. "What happened? Why is your face bleeding?"
Ginny's hand flew to her forgotten cheek, her fingers coming back smeared with blood. "Cut it on some flying glass. Listen, I think my ankle's broken. Death Eaters, four of them, chased us into a dark room full of levitating planets. We started dueling the Death Eaters—Luna, Ron, and I—and one of them grabbed my leg and I heard it crack."
"Harry, Harry, Harry!" Ron changed gaily. "What an odd name. You aren't hairy, Harry, are you?"
"Luna used the Reductor Curse and blew up Pluto in the Death Eater's face, but..." Ginny closed her eyes and leaned back, her breathing becoming very shallow.
"And Ron?" Harry pestered, eyeing the giggling and gurgling boy who had latched onto his leg.
"I don't know, "but he's gone a bit funny, I could hardly get him along at all."
"We've got to get out of here," Ginny heard Harry say firmly. "Luna, can you grab Ron?"
"Yes," Luna stuck her wand behind her ear for safekeeping and tugged on Ron's arm. Neville wiped the blood that trickled down his face and grabbed Hermione. Harry knelt and slung an arm around Ginny's waist, hoisting her up.
"I can do it myself!" snapped Ginny, but then she toppled over and Harry drove to catch her. She sheepishly blushed and silently let him drag her with him.
They were nearing a door at the end of the hall when another burst open and three several Death Eaters tumbled in, led by Bellatrix Lestrange. The six students dashed into another room—the one with a tank of brains—and began to duel the group of Death Eaters Bellatrix had called to aid, all the while aware that the prophecy—that Harry still clutched in his hand—was what the Death Eaters were targeting. Ginny hadn't the foggiest clue as to how to handle the shinning sphere, but she knew, like the rest, that she couldn't let it be taken back to Tom.
Ginny recalled watching in stricken horror as Luna joined an unconscious Hermione, blasted off her feet with what was hopefully a stunning spell and Ron oh-so-stupidly managed to get himself caught in the clutches of a brain's tentacles.
"Diffindo!" Neville shouted, but it was no good. The brain wouldn't let up its hold on Ron and it would slowly suffocate him to death if they didn't act fast.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" A jet of red light shot across the room and Neville's wand flew from his hand, the body following.
"Stupefy!" shouted Ginny, wheeling around and waving her own wand at the oncoming Death Eaters. "Protego!" She blocked a Stunning Spell by inches.
Ginny scanned the scene—she and Harry were now the only two conscious and fighting the five Death Eaters; two of whom sent off streams of silver light which missed their marks but left craters in the wall behind them. Harry dashed out a random door with Bellatrix Lestrange at his heels, holding the prophecy high above his head. Fortunately for Ginny, the rest filled out after Bellatrix, deserting the room and taking no notice of her. Ginny longed to follow Harry but she knew he could hold his own; Ron needed her more as she was the only one with a wand and if not assisted immediately, he would surly die.
The redhead dropped to her knees and murmured spell after spell, waving her wand wildly over Ron as so if he had moved an inch, the boy would have had a wand in his eye socket. To her distress, the tentacles wouldn't budge, no matter her efforts and tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Try lighding them on bire." She jumped at the sound of Neville's voice as he shuffled past Hermione and Luna, gingerly supporting an injured hand.
"Lighting it on fire?" she repeated dumbly.
"Worb a try. S'not like we habe any bedder ideas," he pointed out.
Ginny nodded and reclaimed her focus on her brother, who was thrashing against his bonds and had become a peculiar shade of purple. She blinked away a few tears and whispered "Incendio."
A small spark of flickering red and orange burst from the tip of her wand; to her relief, the brain began to ever-so-slowly loosen its grip on Ron. Once the brain had full detach itself, she chanted "Wingardium Leviosa," and gently guided it back into its tank.
Ron sputtered and sucked in deep breaths of air while Ginny propped up his head and patted him gently on the back. "Are you alright?" she asked him once he had finished gasping.
"Brilliant. Just brilliant," was the muffled reply. "Stop coddling me—you aren't my Mum!" He pushed her hand off and sat upright. His face was as nearly as red as his hair. Good! She thought angrily. Let him be humiliated.
"Then I apologize for being concerned about your wellbeing!" she snapped. "Next time I'll watch you die a slow painful death—goodness knows you deserve it." Ginny pointedly turned her back on Ron. "How's Luna and Hermione?"
In all the fiasco of de-suffocating Ron and the detaching of the brain, she had all but forgotten about her best friends who were currently out cold and taking residence on the floor. Neville crawled over to each girl and checked their pulse with his good hand, eager to do something other than watch the two siblings argue.
"Unconscious but alibe," he reported, his facial expression was one of relief.
"You're hurt," Ginny said, patting the spot besides her: he shuffled over to her. She took his hand in hers and waved her wand. "Episkey! Feel better?"
"Tons," he replied, flexing his now healed limb. "Tanks."
"No problem."
"What about your foot?" Ron piped up.
"What about it, Ronald?" Ginny said cooly.
"Your foot, didn't you break it in the planet room when the Death Eater grabbed you?"
"Oh, yes, well..." Truth was, Ginny had completely forgot about her broken ankle; now that Ron had mentioned it, she quickly muttered "Episkey!" under her breath and sighed as her foot healed.
"Shouldn't we go after Harry?" suggested Ron. "He might need some help."
Ginny noted neither boy was in a great shape to duel (Neville was bleeding quite heavily now) nor did they have a wand. She glanced down at herself and figured she didn't look any better; her pants were covered in blood from the cuts of glass, her shirt was soaked with green liquid from the brain, and her body throbbed from when she was thrown to the grown multiple times whilst in combat.
But Ron was right, Harry did need help whether it came from them or someone else. Their original plan was to rescue Sirius, but now it was to make it out of the Department of Mysteries alive and somewhat whole.
Her mind decided, Ginny strode over to Luna and gently
slide the wand from behind the still blond's ear.
"What the blood hell are you doing?" Ron asked. She paid him no attention.
Unfortunately, Hermione had no wand but Ginny waved her own and said "Accio Neville's wand!" and his came soaring over from where it was discarded in a corner.
She threw Luna's to Ron and gave Neville's to it's respective owner. "We're going to help Harry," she declared to Rob and Neville's bewildered faces.
"What about them?" Ron gestured to Luna and Hermione. "We can't just leave them laying there without wands or anything."
"I doubt the Death Eaters would want anything to do with two unconscious girls. I mean, aren't they after the prophecy, at the moment?" Neville said.
"Maybe one of us should stay here and guard them." Ron flatly suggested.
Ginny nearly growled with frustration. They were wasting time chit-chatting while goodness knows what was going on outside. "Fine! Stay behind and watch them, alright?" she snapped at Ron, ignoring his huff of annoyance. "Ready Neville?"
The pair raised their wands and ran through the door Harry had exited.
The floor immediately vanished and in its place were steep stone steps the two tumbled down, bouncing on every tier until at last with a crash that knocked all the breath out of their bodies, they landed flat on their backs in the sunken pit where a stone archway stood on it's dais.
To Ginny's unfortunate surprise, she saw five Death Eaters surrounding a strange stone arch along with Harry on the dais. His usually kind eyes were fierce and blazing, challenging the Death Eaters before him, the prophecy still miraculously intact in his hand.
Their landing hadn't gone unnoticed; almost immediately Bellatrix Lestrange stalked over and hoisted up Neville and Ginny by their arms.
Harry's lips was moving as Ginny was dragged closer. He was pleading to Malfoy for his friends' freedom in return for the orb. A few Death Eaters laughed. With a sinking feeling she realized that the he did not know of their arrival and was ready to give up the very thing her father had risked his life for.
"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," Lucius Malfoy taunted. "You see, there are ten of us and only one of you..."
"He's not alone!" Bellatrix shrieked, pointing out her hostages. Harry's facial expression morphed into one of relief and of fear.
"Longbottom," she shook Neville harshly, "and the Weasley girl," Ginny received a poke in the back of the head from Bellatrix's wand, "have come to save the great Harry Potter!" She let out a shrill, evil crackle.
Before Ginny had time to blink, Neville had raised his wand and shouted "Stubefy!" at Malfoy. A voice cried out "NEVILLE! NO!" and Ginny couldn't tell if it belonged to her or Harry.
Malfoy, of course, blocked it and sent a disarming spell and Neville once again was left wandless. Bellatrix Lestrange seized Neville from behind pinioning his arms to his sides; momentarily forgetting her other hostage. And Ginny wasn't stupid enough to try to run.
Neville struggled and kicked as several of the Death Eaters laughed again.
"How dare you," Lucius Malfoy sneered. "I'm almost insulted!" With a flick of his wand and a jet of red light, Neville slumped to the ground, unconscious.
He turned and Bellatrix reached out and grasped a fist full of red hair. Ginny dared not resist as she was marched past Malfoy and was shoved in front of Harry in the center of the pit. Harry stared her, a look of dawning horror upon his face.
"Shall we see how long Weasley can last before she looses it? Perhaps Longbottom would like to know another ward in St. Mungo's! Unless, Potter wants to give us the prophecy." Malfoy sneered again.
"Don't touch her!" Harry cried, his seemingly composed mask falling away to reveal the frightened boy beneath. Harry said her name, only to be droned out with a shrill voice from behind her.
"CRUCIO!"
The pain was so intense that she no longer knew where she was. Fire had replaced her coursing blood and someone had surely taken a knife upon her body; Ginny's head felt as if it was going to burst and she screamed more loudly than she's ever screamed in her life: she wanted it to end—to stop—to sleep—to evaporate—to die...
As suddenly as the spell was cast, it was lifted and she could breath again; her body trembled and quivered from the aftermath of the curse. Blurry dots materialized into Death Eaters, scattered about the room and laughing and jeering at her. She felt smooth trickles of liquid flowing down her cheeks and she knew they were tears. Sometime whiles under the influence of the curse she had fallen to the floor.
A voice spoke, or at least that's what Ginny assumed. The sounds around her sounded like she was submerged underwater. A shiny polished shoe kicked her, hard, in the side. Bellatrix yanked a shaky Ginny by her red hair to her feet, still trembling and quivering. Her greatest wish was to curl up and sleep for a thousand years—the last thing she wanted to do was to face more Death Eaters.
Lucius Malfoy was sneering again, Bellatrix was pointing her want threateningly at Ginny's heart and the Death Eaters were cackling madly from the shadows. Neville's limp form was half hidden by black robes.
And then, right then, history changed its course and fate deviated from its path. Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley appeared. She felt rather than heard the pulsing power of curses and spell being exchange hostility. Ginny stood dumbfounded as the Aurors burst into action, her mouth hanging open like an idiot, her pain momentarily forgotten.
Tonks sent a Stunning Spell at Malfoy and Ginny did not wait to see whether it had made contact, but threw herself to the ground out of the line of fire.
The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of the Members of the Order, who were now raining spells upon them as they jumped from step to step towards the sunken floor. Through the darting bodies, the flashes of light, she saw Harry dive off the dais out of the way. He dodged a jet of red light and flung himself flat on the ground to reach her.
His mouth formed words she couldn't hear as another spell soared inches over their heads. She gestured to her ears, hoping he'd understand her disadvantage, panting whilst trying to pull herself up.
Harry began to say something else which was fruitless, really, but was interrupted by the stone floor exploding in between them as a spell hit it, leaving a crater right where Ginny's hand had been only seconds before; both had scrambled away from the spot.
A thick arm came out of nowhere, seized her around the neck and pulled her upright, so that her toes were barely touching the floor. The man was pressing so tightly on Ginny's windpipe that she couldn't breathe. Through watering eyes she saw Sirius dueling with a Death Eater some ten feet away, Kingsley was fighting two at once and Tonks, still halfway up the tiered seats, was firing spells down at Bellatrix.
Ginny turned her wand backwards towards the man's side, but had no breath to utter even the weakest of spells. Nobody seemed to realise that she was literally dying, no one but Harry.
He slowly drew his wand to shoot a curse when Neville came lunging out of nowhere. Unable to fire a spell, he punched his fist into the eyehole of the Death Eater's mask. The man released Ginny at once with a howl of pain. She whirled around to face him and Harry shot a spell that looked suspiciously like 'Stupefy'.
The next significant moments were a blur; a wild, chaotic, disorderly, heart-wrenching, sensational blur, lingering affects from the Crucio curse, Ginny assumed. Mad-Eye was disarmed at one point, Neville was blasted with a Jelly-Leg Jinx, Bellatrix stunned Tonks into unconsciousness and Dolohov and Sirius dueled furiously. Harry and Ginny attempted to help Neville stumble to safety, as Sirius had ordered.
The trio succeeded in making it halfway up the stairs to freedom before Lucious Malfoy came barreling towards them, intent on getting his hands on the prophecy.
"Give me the prophecy, Potter!" Ginny heard Lucus Malfoy snarl in his Harry's ear and saw the tip of Malfoy's wand pressing hard between Harry' ribs.
"Get. Off. Me." Harry turned to her, panic and determination flaring in his eyes and shouted, "GIN!"
He flung the prophecy across the floor and she scooped the ball to her chest. Malfoy pointed the wand instead at Ginny, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his shoulder, yelled "Impedimenta!" and Malfoy was blasted off his back.
As she and Harry scrambled up again they looked around and saw Malfoy had smashed into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now dueling. Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry and Ginny again, but before he could draw breath to strike, Lupin had jumped between them and instructed them to leave.
At one point Neville managed to shatter the prophecy with his floundering legs. Ginny tried to ignore the queasy feeling building up in her gut as a pearly-white figure appeared and began speaking, unnoticed by any but them. Neville was tripping over himself to apologize but then—
"'Dumbledore!" Harry shouted, his sweaty face staring over Neville's shoulder.
Ginny stared at him. "What?" Had he gone mad?
"DUMBLEDORE!"
She and Neville turned to look where Harry was staring. Directly above them, framed in sliver from the Brain Room, stood the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Ginny felt a surge of relief run through her body.
They were saved!
Or so she thought. The truth is, no matter how good one's circumstances can be, shadows always follow the light. One must learn to cherish every single moment one has that is happiness and peace, for the dark moments always out weigh the light. One never, never ever knows when their life can be turned upside down, and one can never truly prepare for catastrophe.
Sirius fell through the veil—the veil both Harry and Ginny heard the voices from—and there was no hope of rescuing him. Ginny's heart broke for Harry, his facial expression had her in tears; thick, hot tears that burned her cheeks.
"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled and dropped Neville uncaringly to the ground. "SIRIUS!" He bounded up the steps and ran towards the arch where Sirius had met his fate mere minutes ago.
"Harry!" Ginny ran after him, despite her tears, fearing he would do something rash. Lupin came hurling towards the boy and threw his arms around him. Ginny ran over and stood between the pair and the veil, one hand raised and badly grazing Harry's chest.
"Stop, Harry—"
"We've got to get him! There's still time!"
"You can't get him back."
"We can still—we can still—we have to—he's waiting—" Harry struggled violently and viciously and even managed to break of Lupin grip, only to barrel into Ginny. And everyone knew that Ginny could compete with even Molly when it came to the fierceness of her embrace.
Ginny wouldn't loosen her grip as Harry flailed wildly. She whispered in his ear, "It's too late. Sirius—" She choked up saying his name, "he's gone."
"HE HASN'T GONE!" Harry yelled. "You heard them too—the voices. You heard them too! SIRIUS'S STILL HERE—HE'S RIGHT BEHIND!"
Ginny's ex-Defense-Against-the-Dark-Arts-Professor was silently holding back tears for his lost friend. Never had Lupin seemed so old and tired. Even as she recalled their midnight tea parties in his office—Lupin still taught DADA and Ginny still suffered from nightmares of the Chamber and he had invited her on a nightly basis for a cup of tea or hot chocolate and to talk away her worried—the dark shadows and feeble candle light the circle's beneath Lupin's eyes appeared darker and his face was pale and ghastly. But now? Now, Lupin appeared fifty times worst.
"He's not—we can't—its impossible, Harry," Lupin said, struggling to maintain his voice from breaking. "If we go through, we'll die too—"
"HE'S NOT DEAD!" Harry bellowed. "SIRIUS!"
There was movement going on around them, pointless bursting and the flashes of more spells. To Ginny it was all meaningless noise, the curses and hexes whizzing past them did not matter, nothing mattered more than keeping a struggling Harry in her arms. With Lupin's help she dragged him away from the arch and out of the line of fire.
Ginny had thought she and Lupin had managed to subdue Harry, or at least calm him down, until he went tearing after Bellatrix. Without a second thought, Ginny followed in close pursuit despite the cries from the Order.
Ginny and Harry darted past a bewildered, sputtering Ron ("Gin—Harry—what—?!") who still remained in the brain room, into the circular black hall with the rotating doors and throughout the corridor towards the lifts. She could hear a lift clattering ahead; together they sprinted up the passageway and swung around the corner.
Harry slammed his fist on to the button to call a second lift. It jangled and after minutes of torturous waiting, it arrived and the doors slid open. Ginny and Harry dashed inside. The doors glided shut and they were rising.
Harry made his way out of the lift before the doors fully opened, forcing Ginny to follow. Bellatrix was almost at the telephone lift at the other end of the Atrium, but she looked back as they sprinted towards her.
She aimed her wand at them but Ginny shouted, "Protego!" deflecting the spell and the two dodged behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren.
There were no more footsteps; she had stopped running. Ginny crouched behind the statues, listening, her breathing labored. The next few minutes consisted of the three furiously exchanged spells and heated words, Bellatrix insulting and tormenting them as they tried to stay alive. What in the world had possessed Ginny to follow Harry?
Ginny ducked as a stone limb went sailing through the air, making contact with the marble wall behind her and shattering, a pink cloud of dust billowing out as the leg exploded into small chunks of stone.
"Harry! NO!" Ginny shrieked as the boy darted out from behind the fountain and screamed, "CRUCIO!"
Her heart was in her throat as she watched the dark witch get knocked off her feet. Ginny hazily looked at Harry, his face that of anger and hurt. Harry had just... Ginny swallowed harshly. Harry had just performed an Unforgivable. The boy she had grown up with; the fun, loving, brave, kind and sarcastic boy she had always known was gone for a split second, replaced with a cold stranger Ginny didn't want to know. She was almost fearful of him, but she scolded herself for these thoughts because Harry was on her side—the good side.
But Ginny hadn't time to dwell on confusing feelings for Bellatrix was already back on her feet. Harry dodged behind the golden fountain again and slammed into her, Bellatrix's counter-spell hit the head of the sculpted wizard, which was blown off and landed twenty feet away.
"How DARE you use an Unforgivable!" She shrieked. "You haven't the first CLUE as to how to use them! Such a curse is not WORTHY of a halfblood's mouth! You INSULT me! CRUCIO!"
Harry would had been blasted off his feet if not for Ginny, who had chosen to pull him down behind the fountain at that very moment.
"You cannot win this battle!" Bellatrix cried. Odd, really, the redhead thought as she ducked yet again to avoid another curse, how Bellatrix was so focused on Harry that Ginny apparently invisible. Ginny could hear her moving to the right, trying to get a clear shot of them. Harry backed around the statue, pulling her with him.
As Bellatrix ranted on, Ginny whispered in Harry's ear, "On the count of three we Stupefy her." He nodded, then blinked. "It was you," he whispered. "Your idea—to smash the shelves."
Ginny smiled ruefully. "One, two—"
Together they yelled, "STUPEFY!" and took aim at Bellatrix's back as she peered around the other side of the fountain. She reacted so fast they barely had time to duck.
"PROTEGO!" Two jets of red light, their own Stunning Spell, came hurling back at them. Ginny scrambled back behind the fountain as another piece went flying across the room.
"Potter, I'm giving you one last chance!" shouted Bellatrix. "Hand over the prophecy now, and I may spare your pathetic lives—yes, including the girl's!"
"Then you're going to have to kill us!"—Ginny elbowed him harshly for she did not share his opinion—"because it's gone!" Harry finished.
"What? What do you mean?" Bellatrix cried, there was fear lacing her voice. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER—WEASLEY, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! ACCIO PROPHECY! ACCIO PROPHECY!"
The boy besides her laughed again, he waved his empty hand from behind the fountain and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying at him.
"See, we haven't got it!" Harry shouted. "It smashed and nobody heard what it said!"
"No!" she screamed. "You're lying! You gave it to one of the—"
"Don't waste your breath!" he yelled, "He can't hear you from here!"
"Harry! SHUT UP!" Ginny shrieked; for a tall, thin and black-hooded figure appear in the hall, his wand raised at her face.
His terrible snakelike face, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes had her trapped in his gaze. "You ssshould lisssten to your little friend, Potter," he said in a high, cold voice and Harry whipped his head around in bewilderment.
"Little Ginny Weasssley, isn't it?" said Tom softly, transferring his gaze from Harry to Ginny. Was it her imagination or could she hear Tom's voice in her mind? She clamped her hands over her ears, griping her head. It was like the Chamber all over again.
"You've grown sssince we've lassst met. Older. Ssstronger. More powerful. But clearly not wissser! I sssee you've aquatinted yourssself with Potter. A terribly foolisssh missstake, my dear."
"Not—" Ginny gulped.
"Ssspeak up!"
"Not a mistake," Ginny said softly, yet with determination. Harry was staring at her with something upon his face she couldn't quite place.
Tom's upper lip curled, his eyes blazing with fury. If she could recall anything from her first year, it was that Tom had always possessed a bitter streak of jealousy. She supposed Voldemort was the same way.
"You have irked me for far too long," Tom sneered. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Ginny froze and she could only watch with wide eyes as the spell came at her. She wished she had written that letter to her Mum. She wanted to let her family know that she loved them, and that she was sorry...
But Harry threw himself and Ginny backwards, away from the dark wizard, away from the green light of the Killing Curse as it wizzed past her head, as another warlock arrived on the scene.
Tom breathed, "Dumbledore!"
About time! Ginny thought crossly. The man had horrible timing. Ginny glanced over Harry's shoulder, her heart pounding.
Dumbledore and Tom circled each other. While Tom was all slinking and gliding, Dumbledore's steps were that of precision and specific calculation. They were like a predator eyeing its prey in the wild—the only thing was, Ginny couldn't tell who was which.
Dumbledore and Tom's duel commenced; it was a beautiful twisted dance of whirling, light and fire. Ginny was memorized with a sick fascination of watching the fight unfold before her. One moment Dumbledore was standing near the fountain and another he was gone in a flourish of his cape emitting sparks. Then Tom conquered a a fiery serpent from his breath alone and—
"Look out!" Ginny cried over Harry's shoulder, who now had her in some sort of embrace.
But even as she shouted, the snake struck with baring fangs, only to be met with a jet of light, instantly destroying it. Again and again the two wizards met, wands flashing furiously as sparks flew and jumped like a blacksmith's hammer landing home upon his metal creation.
At one point Dumbledore had waved his wand and the water from the Tom formed around Voldemort in a crystal dome. They all held their breath as he dispersed of the water, letting it slosh back into the pool and over the sides, not a sign of Tom in sight.
"NO!" a disarmed Bellatrix screamed from the floor.
Certain it was over, Harry shifted his weight, still wrapped around Ginny, but Dumbledore bellowed, "Stay where you are!"
For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. Ginny could not see why: the hall was empty besides a sobbing Bellatrix and Tom was no where to be found. And apparently Ginny's companion shared her thoughts by the look on his face.
Then, without a warning, Harry fell to the floor; withering and twitching as if he was under the Cruciatus Curse. To her horror, his mouth opened and a voice began to speak.
Harry rasped and hissed in Tom's malevolent tone, sending shivers up and down Ginny's spine as she stared down at him, frozen with fear. She couldn't hear what Harry—what Tom—was saying—it was like being underwater again—like being tortured all over again.
Harry's eyes were rolling wildly round in his eye sockets as he ripped off his glasses. And then, as suddenly as the twitching and trembling had started, he was motionless and normal once more.
"Harry?" She dropped to her knees. Behind her she heard voices and the shuffling of feet.
"Yeah," he panted. "I—I think so. Jus—just give me a sec."
He stayed laying on his back for a while before sitting up. She grabbed his glasses from the floor and offered them to him. "Thanks."
He extended a shaky hand and plucked the spectacles from her outstretched palm. "What happened? Where's Voldemort?" he asked over her shoulder and to Ginny's surprise, Dumbledore was sitting causally behind her, watching the pair intently.
"I think you were possessed by Tom just now, Harry." Ginny said quietly, breaking the silence.
"I believe this is the truth," Dumbledore said so calmly that one would think they were chatting over tea or about the weather.
The two students stared at him in disbelief before Ginny broke the silence. "What," she paused and licked her lips. "What did it feel like?"
"How was the Cruciatus Curse?" Harry fired in return Ginny glared at him—it wasn't a particular subject she wanted to dwell on.
The Headmaster raised a silvery eyebrow; she had forgotten she hadn't told anyone of the incident—she hadn't any time, anyway. This would be news to everyone and she wasn't planning on ever telling her mother; Mrs. Weasley would have a heart attack just knowing that Ginny accompanied her brother and Harry, but to hear that her only daughter was tortured by the wand of the wanted criminal Bellatrix Lestrange, that would send anyone off their rocker.
"It felt like my insides had fire swishing around and all over my body someone was repeatedly stabbing me with a knife." Ginny said tight-lipped. If Harry thought he could get away with not speaking if she didn't, then she wouldn't let him have that satisfaction.
Harry looked cross. "Something like that, I reckon," he grumbled. "The pain was coiling around my body."
Suddenly, there was a cacophony of voices echoing throughout the hall. The hall had come alive with witches and wizards flooing in from all different fireplaces, all gaping at the destroyed Fountain in the center of the room.
Ginny and Harry stumbled to their feet as Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore exchanged words. Fudge was aghast and appalled—for there was no denying now that Voldemort was back, everyone has seen him apparate away with Bellatrix. Ginny found it somewhat amusing to see Fudge almost in tears at the state of the Fountain, but her chest felt too hollow and heavy from the loss of Sirius.
This thought made her think of Harry. Poor Harry. His godfather and the only decent member of his family had just died, and he looked as well as Ginny felt. Ginny was relieved when Dumbledore created a Portkey for them to go back to Hogwarts, especially since after he'd announced her and Harry's presence and the whole gaggle of wizards and witches turned to gawk at the Harry and Ginny,who were still standing against the wall near the fountain.
"Ready?" Dumbledore said quietly. "One, two, three."
Ginny felt the familiar sensation as the Portkey activated. The Atrium, Fudge and Dumbledore disappeared as Ginny and Harry flew up and away from the Department of Mysteries in a whirlwind of color and light and sound.